What’s that you’re doing, Mr. Voggenreiter?

“I’m a member of the quick-response crew that springs into action the moment a long-haul aircraft lands. Two or three hours is all we usually have to perform short checks and carry out small repairs before the aircraft takes off again. In other words, we repair and maintain aircraft while they’re still in operation. The technical term for this is ‘line maintenance.’ My specialist area is the cabin, where I’m currently taking a look at one of the new Business Class seats. A flight attendant had reported that the air cushion wasn’t working properly, and now I have to find out why. Is the cushion itself losing air? Or perhaps one of the hoses? It could also be a problem with the compressor, so I take off the cover to read the error code on the otherwise concealed display beneath. Then I replace the faulty component, check everything carefully and I’m done! The passenger sitting in this seat when the plane takes off for Mexico shortly is in for a comfortable flight.”